Jackie Kelso
by HydeLuver
Summary: What happens when Jackie accepts Kelso's proposal? Takes place during Misfire 08x04. JK & JH
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:** _Happy New Years everyone! I hope the holiday season was great and that this year brings happiness to you all. I figured I would start off the year with a brand new story so I hope you all enjoy it. I will be updating every Sunday so a new chapter should be up in two days._

 _November 15, 1979- 8:15pm:_

Jackie stands fiddling with her fingers as everyone in the living room watches her with anticipation. They are all waiting to see what her answer was going to be. She looks down at Michael Kelso kneeling down before her with a blue balloon. Having just proposed to her, he seems anxious. Jackie looks back up and sees Hyde and his wife standing across from her behind the Forman's love couch. Samantha looks on, a dopey half-hearted smile splattered on her face. She's probably happy that Kelso is proposing because now she won't have to worry much about Jackie and Hyde, not that there was anything to worry about in the first place. Part of Jackie wants to just walk over and slap the smile off her face. Next to Sam, Hyde stands, his eyes shielded by the ever-present aviator sunglasses. Jackie notices that his forehead is furrowed and she can feel his eyes on her.

"Jackie," Kelso says, "did you hear me?"

Jackie looks back down at Kelso. How bad of an idea was this really? Sure Donna had laid out the mental image of what life as Mrs. Michael Kelso would be like. Maybe there would be boxes full of puppies and hopefully Michael had grown out of being a cheater, but even with that possibility, what if it was the complete opposite? It's not like they were kids anymore and, if anyone could fix Michael Kelso and make him an idea husband, it was Jackie Burkhart.

"Oh Michael, of course I'll marry you" she says.

As Kelso gets off his knee and lifts her up to kiss her, she can hear Fez squeal in delight behind her. When the newly engaged couple break apart, she looks towards Donna who is shaking her head in disapproval. Jackie frowns. She is doing the right thing and she was not going to let anyone ruin her special moment. Sure this was not exactly how she imagined her proposal, or even with this person, but it did not make it less magical. She was happy that someone wanted to devote themselves to her and she was going to make sure to be the perfect wife. She looks away from Donna and sees that everyone has forced smiles plastered on their face and they mutter congratulations. Then, she looks over to where Sam and Hyde are standing but sees that Sam is the only one there. Behind her, the door to the Forman's kitchen is swinging.

 _November 13, 1979- 4:10pm:_

Michael Kelso walks into the novelty store with Fez and Hyde trailing behind him. The three men are the only ones in the store besides the manager who sits by the counter, flipping through an old magazine. He raises his eyes once or twice to check on the three friends, mostly to make sure they're not doing anything fishy or stealing anything.

"How crazy is it that I'm proposing to Jackie? Man, I'm going to be someone's husband" Kelso says excitedly.

"It's crazy alright" says Hyde, his tone flat. He still isn't sure how serious Kelso is about proposing to Jackie. He had to know it was a bad idea. The last time they had been together was over two years ago and Kelso had run off to California to avoid doing the exact thing he was about to do now. Also, how could Kelso not think that Hyde may have a problem with him proposing to his ex-girlfriend, not that he had a problem because he had a wife now and was in no position to object, but it would have been the decent thing to do to ask. However, Hyde feigned interest in the matter because he didn't want people to think he cared whether Jackie and Kelso were engaged. He didn't. Truthfully, however, the thought of the engagement made him a bit sick. Not so much the proposal itself, but rather the possibility that she would accept. He is immediately taken back to the night in Chicago when he found Kelso in Jackie's hotel room. He had been so mad and his insecurities of always coming second best got the better of him. Now, months later, those same feelings were back, except now he had no leverage to speak against it, because Jackie wasn't his girl anymore.

"Crazy good" Fez exclaims. The foreigner was probably the most excited out of all of them. Despite his own adoration towards Jackie, he was glad that something good might be coming her way. After months of living with Jackie, he's become aware of how difficult things have been for Jackie since Sam's arrival. Having to deal with the love of her life flaunt someone new right in front of her and have her best friend, who she herself has stood by for years, basically leave her behind had done a number on the tiny girl. The poor girl spent every day crying, desperately throwing herself at any guy who would look her away despite them being below her standards and tried her best to avoid the basement. She once told him that she felt less included now than she did when she would first come around, years ago when she first started dating Kelso. Knowing exactly how it felt to be excluded, Fez empathized with her. Sure this proposal is rushed and ill-thought out, but he knows it would make her happy to still feel wanted, and damn it, he loved weddings.

The three men, now at the toy aisle, looked around at the multiple bags of balloons. Kelso picked up one of the bags and held it up to his face.

"Don't think too hard" Hyde says sarcastically referring to Kelso's confused face.

"How am I supposed to pick a color?" Kelso asks as he examines the colorful balloons inside the bag.

"Well, hello, something old, something new, something borrowed, something _blue._ Obviously you have to give her a blue one" says Fez.

Hyde rolls his eyes at his friend. He was already over this entire situation and did not need Fez to romanticize it more.

"Fez...you're a genius" Kelso screeches before he darts off to the counter.

"Don't encourage this" Hyde tells Fez who started looking around at the other toys in the aisle.

"Why not?" Fez asks.

"Because it's a stupid idea and you know it" Hyde tells him before following in Kelso's steps towards the front of the store.

Fez frowns as he looks after his grumpy friend. ' _oh no'_ he thinks and follows suit.


	2. Chapter 2

_November 15, 1979- 8:23pm:_

In the midst of the excitement between the Forman's anniversary and Jackie and Kelso's proposal, Donna notices that Hyde is not among the small crowd in the living room. She walks over to Sam who is sitting on the love seat silently looking on at the others.

"Hey, where's your husband?" Donna asks the blond.

"Oh he went that way" Sam replies pointing towards the kitchen. "I think the engagement put him in a bad mood" she continues finally making eye contact with Donna.

Donna eyes Sam curiously. "What makes you say that?" Donna asks.

Sam smiles sadly and shakes her head. Donna decides not to push the matter any further, not that she has to. Ever since Sam arrived a couple of weeks ago, she has suspected that things between her and Hyde were not as easy and uncomplicated as he made them believe. Sure things with Sam were probably easy and she was a nice girl, but Donna knew Hyde well enough to know that he needed more now. High school Hyde would have been glad settling for someone like Sam, but not this Hyde.

Donna walked away from Sam and made her way into the kitchen where she instantly spotted her friend eyeing the open refrigerator. "Looking for something there curly?" she jokes. She stands by the swinging door, her back resting against the wall.

Hyde looks up at her, his sunglasses off his face and his forehead still furrowed. "Beer" is all he says before going back to searching for a drink.

"You know there are drinks out there right?" she says.

Hyde grunts and shakes his head, not bothering to look up at her.

"What's going on Hyde?" Donna asks.

Hyde grabs hold of a beer bottle and pulls it out of the fridge. He closes the door and goes on to search for a bottle opener. "Just need a break from all that man" he responds.

"From what exactly?" Donna says. Her suspicions growing as he becomes more irritated by the second.

"From _that_ " he repeats.

"From the Forman's?" She pushes on.

"Donna, don't okay" Hyde says.

"Don't what Hyde, what's going on?" she asks, a frown growing on her face as she realizes that Fez might have been right. Two days prior, Fez approached her telling her about Kelso's idea of proposing to Jackie and that perhaps Hyde was not too happy about it. At the time, Donna had been more concerned about the proposal and the fact that, given her vulnerable state, Jackie would actually accept. She had not thought much about Hyde being upset about it because he hadn't given them any indication of caring about Jackie anymore, not since Sam showed up anyway. Now, however, seeing his reaction, she can't deny that maybe it bothered him more than he wanted to let on.

"Don't try to play therapist right now I'm not in the mood" he replies cracking open the beer and taking a long swig of it.

"Is this about Jackie accepting Kelso's proposal?" she asks, wanting to have an honest conversation with him, even if he was hesitant to do so. Admittedly, the dynamics of their group changed once Eric went off to Africa and she hasn't been as present as she had been in the past. As a result, she missed a lot of the signs regarding her friend's well-being. She can acknowledge not being there for Jackie once Sam entered the picture and the two girls had a conversation about that. Now, she was determined to be more aware of the things that went around her.

"What? No. Why would I care about that?" he asks unconvincingly.

"Because they're your friends" she replies. This approach might make him less guarded.

"Jackie and I are not friends" he says.

"Well Kelso's your friend."

"So?"

Donna shakes her head, so much for being less guarded. "Hyde, what's wrong?" she asks trying again.

"Nothing okay Donna. I'm just sick of the celebrations and the lovey dovey crap" Hyde answers setting his beer down. He looks around the kitchen and takes a deep breath. From the other room, the loud music and laughter pierced through the walls and it made his head throb.

"You didn't seem to have a problem with it when it was you and Jackie all over each other" Donna points out.

"Will you stop bringing up me and Jackie?" Hyde growls, his voice picking up a harshness Donna hasn't seen in a long time.

"So this is because of Jackie" Donna says. No, she wasn't going to let up no matter how much it bothered him. "Hyde, you know you can talk to me."

"It's not about Jackie, I told you I'm just over the whole thing."

"What thing exactly? You keep saying you're over it but you don't say what _it_ is."

Hyde sighs and takes another sip of his beer. "Remember when Fez finally did it?" he asks Donna.

Donna raises her eyebrows and smiles. "Yeah, and it was the saddest story ever told" she says which makes them both laugh. "What made you bring that up?" she asks once their laughter subsides.

"I don't know. Just reminded me of us all sitting around in the basement."

Donna nods her head. It's been a while since they managed to find their way to the basement and just enjoy each other's company like they had done for so many years. Since Eric left, everyone started doing their own thing. Whether it was Kelso working or her trying to get back in the dating scene or Hyde and his wife making it difficult for Jackie to come by, there was always a reason someone got out of spending time down there. She couldn't even remember the last time there was a circle with more than three people in it. Nowadays, the basement was quiet and the television did most of the talking. She missed how things used to be. She missed sitting next to Eric and just feeling his warmth next to her. She missed Kelso and Fez filling them in about their latest pervy scheme. Hell, she even missed seeing Jackie propped up on Hyde's lap, her mouth flapping a million miles an hour while he sat silently half listening to the girl.

"We had fun together" she replies.

"And now it's different" he says.

"Is that what you're over? Everything changing?" she asks.

Hyde takes a moment to think about her question. "I guess so" he replies. It hadn't struck him how much things had actually changed until he saw Kelso on his knee asking Jackie to marry him and her gladly accepting his stupid blue balloon. In that moment, he looked at his friend and ex-girlfriend and then next to him at his wife and realized how upside down his world had become. He had once imagined Jackie accepting _his_ proposal. Now, it was like he was transported back to when Jackie and Kelso were together, except that it wasn't in the past. It was happening and he had a wife who wasn't her and the room spun for a moment.

"Growing up, apparently it is inevitable" Donna jokes as she pushes herself off the wall and walks over to the fridge to grab a beer of her own.

"Yeah who knew" he jokes back. He walks over to the circular table where he has enjoyed so many home cooked meals and sits on the chair closest to the sliding door. A minute later Donna joins him.

"Can I ask you a question, and please don't get mad at me for asking" Donna says, treading lightly knowing that what she's about to ask might cause him to shut down.

Hyde grunts but nods his head.

"What do you think about Jackie and Kelso getting married?" she asks. If her friends are going to be engaged, she wants to make sure everyone else feels okay about it. Hyde, specially, should be okay with it because even though he puts up a strong front, she knows that part of him needs to have some sort of closure from his relationship with Jackie.

Hyde rolls his eyes. "What is it with the Jackie questions man?"

Donna shrugs, "I'm just curious is all" she answers.

"If that's what she wants, then whatever" he responds.

"That's not what I asked though. I asked you what _you_ thought about it."

"I think it's a stupid idea okay" Hyde blurts out suddenly. Donna can tell he doesn't want to talk about it but she is genuinely curious. Her friend is not great at expressing his emotions even though they were not that hard to read. She knew that he had loved Jackie despite his constant denials. She also knows that he isn't as invested in his relationship with Sam as he was in the one he and Jackie had.

"Why do you think it's stupid?" she presses on.

"It's just a bad idea man. Those two are not a good idea together."

"You know, we all thought the same thing about you and Jackie" Donna points out.

"Yeah, look how well that turned out" he said, a hint of nostalgia in his voice.

"What would you change about what your relationship?"

"I thought it was only one question?" Hyde says sarcastically.

Donna smiles, "I think we're having a good conversation."

"Uh huh" he says taking another swig of his beer.

"So?"

"What I say can not leave this table okay?"

"Promise" Donna says now at the edge of her seat. He was finally going to open up about him and Jackie, perhaps tell Donna what they have all known, that he did in fact love her and regrets screwing things up between them.

"If I could change anything, I would never have gotten into a relationship with her" he replies. Before Donna can answer, he gets off his seat and starts walking towards the swinging door that led back to the living room.

"I don't believe you" Donna calls out to him but he just shrugs and walks through the door. Donna sighs and follows her friend a moment later.

From the small hallway leading into the dining room, Jackie stands having just listened to the conversation between her ex-boyfriend and her friend. Hearing him say that he wishes he would never have gotten into a relationship with her just reinforces that she made the right decision in accepting Kelso's proposal. She was finally going to be with someone who loves her and wants her and doesn't regret everything that happened between them. Screw Steven Hyde, she was going to stop thinking about him and be happy planning the rest of her life with her fiance.


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note: I want to thank those of you who have taken the time to read and/or review this story. I have finally gotten the chance to read the reviews and they are so nice and make it that much more fun to write this little story. Here is the newest chapter. Hope you like it and expect an update next Sunday.**

 _November 15, 1979- 9:41pm:_

Jackie walks into the kitchen after Hyde and Donna go back into the living room and is thankful for a moment alone. She walks around the small island and grabs a seat on one of the stools. She grabs hold of the counter and takes a deep breath, the first big gulp of air she inhales since being proposed to. Everything after she accepted Kelso's proposal just a few minutes ago is one big blur. She almost can't believe she actually agreed to marry Michael. She was sure, after Fez let her and Donna know about Michael's plan and Donna told her what her future might be like that she would turn him down. It wasn't that she didn't love Michael or didn't think he hadn't grown up since they'd last been together. In fact, she did think that he was her soul mate and she would always love him for being her first everything, but _she_ had also grown up.

She was no longer the romantic little girl whose purpose in life was to be someone's wife. After all the heartache she's experienced over the last few months, she wants to build a life she can be proud of and being in a relationship, much less married, had been the furthest thing on her mind. However, when she saw him down on one knee, a sense of calm overcame her and she started to think that perhaps this is the way her life was supposed to be like. As soon as she stopped trying to find love, it found her. Or rather, it re-found her and how could she turn her back on fate? It was destiny...Michael Kelso was her destiny.

And yet, hearing Hyde say that he would take back their relationship ripped any calmness and happiness she had been experiencing. Why did she care? He was married and they haven't been together in some time. She should be over him and focused on her future as Mrs. Michael Kelso.

Her moment of solitude was quickly interrupted when Sam walks into the kitchen. "Oh there you are" the blonde says as soon as she sees Jackie.

Quizzically, Jackie looks up at her ex's wife.

"Michael is looking for you" Sam informs Jackie as she starts to walk over to the fridge. Jackie observes as Sam opens up the Forman's refrigerator with ease, as though this was her house and instantly, Jackie remembers that it is. The blonde has been living here for weeks and this was her house, not figuratively in the way it was to Jackie and Fez and Donna and Kelso, but actually where she lives, with Hyde and the Formans.

"Tell him I'll be out in a second" Jackie says and sighs. _Stop it_ she tells herself referring to the crushing feeling in her stomach, the one that some times creeps up when she is reminded that Hyde is someone else's. It still seems surreal that he was able to give to someone else all the things he was incapable of promising her.

Sam pulls out a beer and looks back at Jackie. "Sure I'll tell him" she says as she goes about opening drawers looking for a bottle opener. When she finds one, she pops the top off the bottle and takes a quick sip. "Oh, I didn't get a chance to say congratulations. You must be excited" Sam says.

Jackie offers a small smile and nods her head. "Thanks" she says and watches as Sam walks back into the living room to join the rest of group.

 _Okay, stop thinking about Steven. You're engaged to Michael, go enjoy it_ Jackie thinks to herself before getting up and going back to the living room.

As soon as she re-enters the room, she sees everyone sitting around. Hyde and Sam are sitting on the love chair. The Formans are on the couch with Donna and Bob while Fez is on the piano bench with Michael. Kelso jumps up from his seat when he sees her, a huge smile on his face. "Hey, is everything okay?" he asks.

Jackie nods enthusiastically, wanting to assure him that everything is great. "Everything is perfect" she says before planting a quick peck on his lips. She instantly felt weird, this having been their first kiss in years. She wasn't used to having to arch her neck as much of not having the bridge of her nose not hit the rims of sunglasses. She laughed, though, at how happy her fiance looked.

"Oh, you two are adorable. Aren't they adorable Red?" Kitty calls out from her spot on the sofa.

The older man grunts and doesn't bother to look up at them. Jackie smiles at the older lady, relishing in the attention. "Thank you Mrs. Forman" she says.

"Of course we're adorable, we're hot" Kelso replies motioning up and down at the two of them, trying to have everyone take in their physical appearance.

"And you look happy" Fez chimes in from across the room.

"I am happy. I get to marry the girl of my dreams" Kelso says which makes Jackie blush.

"Aw Michael, I wouldn't want to be engaged to anyone else. I love you so much" she says and tip toes to kiss his cheek.

Yeah, so what if she is not being entirely honest and she could absolutely see herself with someone else, but she did love him. Also, she knew it would eat Hyde up to hear those words. This was a two person game now and if he was regretful of their relationship, then she was also going to undermine it.

She hears a groan but isn't sure who it came from, but she was hoping it was from Hyde. She also heard a light sniffle and immediately looked over to where Fez was sitting and sure enough she caught him drying the corners of his eyes.

"Fez, are you crying?" Hyde asks.

"It's just so beautiful" Fez replies, his voice cracking a bit.

"Oh alright, that's enough. Everybody out!" Red says, finally having had enough of the celebrations and emotions for one night.

"Oh Red don't be such a party pooper" Kitty tells him.

"No Kitty, this is our anniversary and I refuse to spend the rest of it with crying foreigners. Everyone out" he says again.

This time, Kitty did not interject. He had given her a very nice evening, the least she could do is let him enjoy the little time that was left and if that meant making everyone leave early, then she would let him have that.

"Looks like these two crazy kids still have some juice to keep them going" Bob says winking at Red while Kitty shakes her head.

"Get out Bob" Red replies and immediately, Bob stands up and starts walking towards the kitchen.

"Donna?" Bob calls out to his daughter. Donna gets off the couch and follows after her dad.

"See you guys tomorrow and congratulations again you too" she says to Jackie and Kelso. Jackie smiles and waves good bye to her friend.

"I'm going to hop in the shower" Sam informs the group and Fez instantly straightens his back and watches as the blonde walks into the kitchen to head down to the basement.

"I guess we'll go too," Kelso starts and he turns to face his fiance, "should I go grab some stuff and meet you at your apartment?" he asks her.

"That sounds like a good plan baby" she tells him.

"Okay, I'll see you at home in an hour" he tells her and she instantly feels giddy that he referred to her place as home. They were already building together and it made her very excited. She nods and watches as her fiance makes his way out of the Forman's house. She suddenly feels a tap on her shoulder and turns to see Hyde standing behind her.

"We need to talk" he says and before she can object, he turns and heads towards the kitchen. Jackie looks at the Formans and Fez who are eyeing her curiously and shrugs her shoulders trying to appear cool and collected all the while feeling incredibly anxious. She slowly follows in Hyde's track towards the kitchen, curious as to what her ex could possibly have to say to her.

"So, what are you two lovebirds getting into tonight?" Fez asks the Formans. Red eyes the foreigner who seems to be getting quite comfortable in his seat and rather than reply, he simply gets off his own seat and makes his way upstairs.

"Oh sweetie, go home" Kitty tells Fez and then follows her husband.

Fez sits on the piano bench watching the two older people ascend the staircase and pulls out a chocolate bar from his pocket which he starts munching on quietly.


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note:** _I'm sorry for not updating yesterday, got caught up in finishing up an essay and was pretty burned out afterwards. Here is the latest installment. Hope you enjoy this chapter and the next one should be up on Sunday. Thinking about publishing two chapters this weekend instead of the one just to move things along a bit._

 _November 15, 1979- 10:11pm:_

When Jackie steps into the kitchen, she sees that Hyde has already settled down in a seat on the table. Immediately, she notices that he has taken off his sunglasses and he is looking directly at her. She walks a few steps and rests on the counter near the sink but he motions for her to join him on the table. Jackie shakes her head and folds her arms across her chest instead. A smirk forms across Hyde's lips.

"What do you need to talk about Hyde?"

From his spot in the kitchen, he analyzes her. She can feel his eyes taking in every inch of her and it makes her uncomfortable, not because of the action itself but because she likes it. She likes that he's taking her in when she is looking her best.

"You accepted Kelso's proposal" he says.

"I'm glad you were paying attention" she retorts feeling internally satisfied. Good, it does bother him that she committed to someone else. Serves his right for all the things he put her through.

"Is that really a good idea?" he asks.

"Do you think it's a bad idea?" she says, throwing his question back at him. She can't wait until he tells her what a mistake she's making and how he expected more from her. A sick part of her wants him to feel bad about her moving on while he has to sit around married to the stripper he married while being drunk. He can finally realize that he could have been the one she chose, been the one who would be spending the rest of his life with her had he just given her the things he couldn't promise.

"I think you've had better ideas" he replies.

"Oh yeah? Which ones for example? I happen to think getting married to Michael is a great idea" she says.

"Jackie, you and Kelso getting married is not a great idea" Hyde says as he leans back on his chair and rocks it on its two hind legs.

"Why do you care anyway?" Jackie asks him, her eyebrow rising with curiosity.

Hyde doesn't answer immediately. He makes eye contact with Jackie from across the room and a tension forms between the two. It had been weeks, since before Sam showed up, that the two of them had been alone in a room and actually had a conversation. The last time they had any real form of communication, they were still together. Now, here they were, their lives having completely changed. He was married and she was engaged. Neither would have thought, just a few weeks ago, that they would not be together, let alone where they are now.

"You know what, you're right. I don't care" Hyde replies as he stands up from his seat.

"Good, you shouldn't seeing as how you never actually cared about me anyway so you have no reason to judge or lecture me about this" she says. Something about his indifference really pisses her off. He's supposed to be more affected by it, just like she was when his wife walked through the doors. He's supposed to give a damn.

"What are you talking about?" he asks, stopping just a few feet from where she is standing.

"That's what you told Donna, wasn't it? That you regret ever being in a relationship with me?" she says, her voice rising and tears threatening to fill her eyes. She feels her pulse quickening and she hates him even more now for still having this affect on her. She was supposed to be happy. Supposed to be driving home and waiting for her fiance to show up so they could celebrate. Instead, she is here arguing with someone who could not care less about her.

"Jackie, that's not what I-" he starts but she interrupts him.

"Save it, I heard you and you know what? I'm glad to know you feel that way because now I know that what we had didn't mean anything to you and I can be truly happy with my life."

"Hey, you know that's not true" he says matter-of-factly.

"No actually, I don't know anything other than what I heard you say. That's all you've ever shown me and I was stupid enough to think that you actually did love me" Jackie responds as a few tears finally win and make their way down her cheeks.

"Fuck, what do you want me to say?" Hyde says, exasperation in his voice.

"I don't want you to say anything Hyde, it doesn't matter anymore" she replies.

"Exactly! It doesn't fucking matter anymore because you're marrying Kelso" he says.

"Oh it doesn't matter because I'm marrying Michael? Guess what? It hasn't mattered since you married that whore so don't you dare make this about my decision to be happy" she yells at him and turns to walk back towards the living room.

Hyde speeds up after her and finds her walking towards the coat rack to get her jacket. Fez is still sitting on the piano bench but Hyde ignores him. "Oh, is this what you're doing to be happy? You could have fooled me. I thought you were just doing it to get back at me."

Jackie turns around abruptly and glares at him. She walks back over to where he stands and points her index finger just inches from his face. "You arrogant son of a bitch. Get over yourself. This isn't about you. It hasn't been about you for a very long time, not since you fucked up everything we had. I'm choosing to be happy with someone who can actually commit to loving me which you never could."

Hyde can't help but laugh bitterly at this. "Commit to loving you? Come on princess, did you forget all the times he cheated on you when you were together? What makes you think he won't do it now?"

Jackie's entire body feels like it's igniting at his words and she is besides herself. She shoves him, as hard as she can once, twice...she continues shoving her until he grabs her by the wrists to stop her.

"Hyde, stop" Fez says getting off the piano bench and walking over to them. Hyde releases his hold on Jackie who immediately starts crying and walks back to grab her jacket. Fez stands in front of Hyde and holds his hand to his chest to stop him from walking over to Jackie.

"Tell me you love him," Hyde yells at her, "go on, tell me in all honesty that you actually love Kelso and you're not just doing this to get back at me?"

"Fuck you" Jackie turns to say before walking out of the front door.

"Not. Cool" Fez says to Hyde before chasing after Jackie to comfort her.

"What's going on?" Hyde hears a voice say behind him. He turns to see his wife standing by the swinging door in a towel and shakes his head. "Hyde, what was all that about?" she asks again.

"Nothing Sam, don't worry about it" he says without turning to look at her. He takes a seat on the couch wanting to just be left alone and forget everything that just happened. He hadn't meant to go off on Jackie or even let himself get that worked up. He told himself he would keep calm and just talk to her, as civilly as one can speak to an ex who just got engaged to his best friend.

"It didn't sound like nothing. Why were you arguing with Jackie?" Sam says, wanting answers from her husband.

"It's not important Sam don't worry about it. Just go downstairs, I'll be down in a minute."

"Don't bother coming down unless you're ready to talk about what the hell that was about" Sam says and turns back around towards the kitchen.

Hyde lets out a frustrated sigh. Great, just what he needed, another person pissed off at him.


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's Note:** _Hey all. I'm SOOO sorry it's been a while since the last update and although this chapter isn't very long, I will have another one up by the end of the week._

 _November 15, 1979- 10:40pm:_

Outside of the Forman's house, Jackie and Fez sit inside her car. Jackie is trying hard to stop crying and is appreciative of her friend sitting quietly by her side, not judging her as her makeup smears and runs down her face

"I'm really sorry you have to see me like this Fezzie, I know it's not my best look" she says jokingly trying to lighten the mood a bit.

Fez frowns and shakes his head. For so long he has been the friend that offered comedic relief, who everyone could go to when they wanted to get their minds off whatever problem they were going through that day. At first not realizing that he was a mere distraction, he would fill their days with stories of his latest mishaps. He was always happy, though, when the attention was finally on him so he took advantage of it. At this moment, however, he couldn't be the jester and make light of what just occurred between his two friends.

"Jackie, what happened with Hyde?" he asks.

Jackie takes several deep breaths and tries to calm down. "Nothing Fezzie, you know how Hyde is" she replies.

"I do know, and he doesn't usually get like that" Fez replies not willing to let it go so easily. He knew, since he went with Hyde and Kelso to buy the balloons that something like this would happen. Despite what his friends thought, he was observant.

"Oh I don't know Fez, maybe he's just having a bad day" she says as she reaches for her purse on the back seat and starts digging through it to find a cloth to wipe her face with.

"When isn't Hyde having a bad day though? This is about you and Kelso isn't?" Fez asks, watching as she starts re-applying her make up in an effort to appear presentable again.

Jackie groans, already wanting to stop talking about what just happened between her and Hyde. Screw him, for feeling so damn entitled and messing up her perfect day. "Why would Hyde care about me and Michael?" she scoffs. She turns to look at Fez who doesn't bother replying. He just looks at her and she sighs. "I don't know what that was about Fez. Steven and I have a lot of unresolved things between us. That's just what that was about. Could you please not tell Michael about it? I don't want to upset him."

Fez shakes his head and looks away from her. "Jackie, why did you say yes to Kelso?" he asks suddenly looking back at her. If he was going to keep a secret from Kelso, he needed to make sure that there was nothing going on between Jackie and Hyde, at least not from her part.

"I love Michael Fez and I think we were meant to be together. Why are you asking me that?"

"What about Hyde?"

Jackie narrows her eyes a bit, getting an idea of what's going through his mind. "Fez, there is nothing going on between me and Steven. Whatever happened in there was because of some outburst he had. I'm marrying Michael because that's what I want. I wouldn't have accepted if that wasn't true" she says defensively.

Fez nods his head slowly, still unconvinced that what just happened didn't mean anything to her, but he was willing to let it go for now, but he would get to the bottom of it and make sure Kelso didn't get hurt because of whatever unresolved crap was going on between Jackie and Hyde. "Let's get out of here" he tells Jackie. She nods and proceeds to drive away from the Forman's driveway towards her home where she would wait for her fiance to celebrate their engagement.

Meanwhile, inside the Forman's house, Hyde turns the television on in the living room, trying to avoid dealing with Sam for as long as possible. He would just watch t.v until it was late and she'd gone to bed. Frankly, he was in no mood to give her any explanations about what had just happened with Jackie. Hell, he wasn't even sure why he had lost his cool. All he had wanted to do was talk to her and be civil since she had just accepted to marry one of his best friends. As soon as he thought this though, the anger rose again. What the hell was even going through her mind to accept his proposal? Why was it so easy for the two of them to just disregard the fact that up until just a few weeks ago, he and Jackie had been together? Sure he messed that up but some acknowledgment would have been nice.

 _Shit, I need a smoke_ he thinks to himself but remembers his stash is down in the basement which he's trying to avoid right now. He turns the television off and walks over to the coat rack where he grabs one of Red's jackets and walks outside hoping to find his connection at his usual spot.


	6. Chapter 6

_November 15, 1979- 11:37pm:_

Hyde steps out of the El Camino and instantly, the cold wind slams into him forcing him to pull his jacket closer to his body and walk faster. He looks around the empty street and makes his way into The Hub searching for his connect. Inside, there are a handful of people taking the last bite of their food or sip of their shake. He sees the manager, Frank, wiping down an empty table. Frank looks up when the bell above the door jingles and frowns when he sees Hyde.

"We're closing in five minutes" he calls out in his accent.

"Hey, you seen Joseph?" Hyde calls out to Frank.

"Don't know a Joseph" Frank tells Hyde and turns back to finish cleaning the table.

"You mean Grant?" a younger boy says to Hyde as he stands up from his chair and walks up to him.

"Yeah" Hyde tells the other guy remembering that Joseph prefers to go by his last name.

"Try over by Fatso Burger, he said this place was too dead for business." The guy walks past Hyde now and walks towards the trash bin near the door and disposes his scraps.

Hyde looks down at his watch and sees that it's almost midnight, any place in Point Place will be dead anyway. He grunts, deciding against tracking down Grant. He could try again tomorrow. Sam would probably be asleep by now anyway, so he wouldn't have to talk to her. He turns around and walks back outside. He shivers a bit at the change of temperature and thrusts his hands in his jacket pocket. Inside, he finds a cigarette and smiles, thankful for something that will help ease his anxiety. He puts the cigarette between his lips and walks towards his car to get a lighter. From the alleyway next to The Hub, he hears a muffled laughter followed by a familiar voice. Hyde pulls the cigarette out of his lips and holds it between his index and middle finger. He makes his way over to the entrance of the alleyway and squints his eyes when he sees Kelso kissing a chick who certainly wasn't his new fiance.

Hyde stands in disbelief that within just a few hours of proposing to Jackie, Kelso is already cheating on her. He clears his throat but the sound goes unnoticed so he does it again, louder. This time, the girl turns abruptly to face him and starts to immediately smooth down her hair. Kelso's goofy grin is immediately replaced by a panicked look and he starts pressing down on his clothes to smooth the wrinkles out a bit.

"Hyde, hey there buddy" Kelso says, his voice an octave higher than usual.

Hyde raises an eyebrow but doesn't say anything. He watches quietly as Kelso and the girl, who he's never seen before, awkwardly exchange worried glances and uncomfortable words of departure.

"Uh, excuse me" the girl says in a mousy voice as she goes around Hyde and leaves the two men behind.

"Hyde, you know, this isn't what it looks like" Kelso says immediately as he starts getting closer to his friend. He offers Hyde an reassuring smile which Hyde doesn't buy because he's known Kelso for far to long to fall for it. Hell, he knew it was only a matter of time before Kelso went off and hooked up with another girl while being with Jackie, but he hadn't expected it to be so soon after popping the question.

"No?" Hyde says slightly tilting his head to the side with amusement, interested in what dumb excuse Kelso would feed him.

"No, you see she lost an uh, earring, and I was just helping her find it" Kelso says, stumbling over his words.

"Is that so?"

"Yeah, it was small too man, I mean we _really_ had to look in there" Kelso continues confident that Hyde was believing him.

"In there meaning her mouth" Hyde says which makes Kelso's face drop.

"You can't tell Jackie okay? She'll be really pissed"

"Who, Jackie? Now why would she be mad that you're making out with some chick?" Hyde asks sarcastically. Kelso eyes his friend for a moment, not getting the sarcasm right away.

"Hyde, I'm serious man, you can't tell Jackie" he says.

Hyde looks at Kelso incredulously. Why the hell would the guy propose if he was just going to cheat on Jackie anyway? And why the hell would he even tell Jackie, it's not like she would even believe him after the argument they got into. She would probably just tell him that he was jealous and trying to ruin her life again. No, he couldn't tell her, but did she not deserve to know? Damn it, when the hell did he become so righteous and willing to do the right thing?

"Hyde, buddy, you're not telling Jackie right?" Kelso pleads this time.

"What are you going to give me if I don't tell her?" Hyde asks, figuring that if he wasn't going to burn his friend and tell Jackie what he saw, he might as well get something for it.

"Uh, what do you want?" asks Kelso.

Hyde thinks for a moment, trying to think of things he wants but can't think of anything and suddenly, he gets a good idea. He smirks and this makes Kelso uneasy.

"Hyde..." he says.

"Oh, we're going to have some fun Kelso" Hyde says as he turns around and walks away from his friend and towards where his car is.

"I don't like the sound of that" Kelso calls out without moving from his spot.


	7. Chapter 7

**Author's Note** **:** Hi all! I want to deeply apologize for the long hiatus in this story. Things were going on in my personal life that were too similar to this story (art imitating life to say the least) and made it difficult to want to write. I figure, I can take my own life and use it as inspiration so let's keep this going!

 _November 16, 1979-3:24pm:_

Hyde is sitting on his usual chair in the basement reading a magazine. His legs are crossed and he has to keep readjusting his sunglasses which keep slipping off the bridge of his nose. He makes a mental note to get the screws on the side tightened. Across from him, on the beach chair, he feels Kelso's eyes piercing a hold through the magazine shielding his face. He smirks behind the pages, knowing his friend is probably restless regarding the events that occurred the previous night as well as the silence permeating the room.

Once he got home the night before, he was relieved to see that Sam was in a deep sleep and rather than risk waking her by climbing into the cot next to her, he made his way upstairs to Laurie's old room. There, the anger towards Kelso finally started to rise. How could his friend be so stupid and propose to Jackie if he was only going to cheat on her an hour later? More importantly, how could Jackie be so stupid to think Kelso would change? She should know him better than anyone else. But why the hell should he care anyway? She clearly wanted nothing to do with him and he had no right to get involved in her life. And yet...he couldn't just not tell her what he saw. He just needed to find a way to let Kelso hang himself, which probably wouldn't be too hard to do.

The door to the basement door opens and Donna walks in frantically looking for Fez.

"Where is he?" she says immediately.

"Who Fez?" asks Kelso.

"Yes Fez, who else?" she says walking quickly towards Hyde's room. Hyde simply looks up from the magazine and looks after his upset friend.

"I'm going to kill him" she says walking back into the general area.

"What did he do this time?" Hyde asks with mild interest.

"That idiot raided my underwear drawer and took all of them" she says.

"Alright!" exclaims Kelso excitedly which earns him a menacing look from Donna. Kelso shrinks in his seat and shrugs his shoulders.

"If you see him, tell him I'm looking for him and that I will make him pay" she says before heading up the stairs.

Hyde shakes his head and goes back to reading the magazine article. Once again, he feels Kelso's eyes focused on him and he decides to have some fun with his friend. Hyde folds the magazine close and puts it down.

"What is it Kelso?"

"What's the plan Hyde?" Kelso asks.

"What do you mean?" Hyde feigns curiosity.

"Hyde I'm serious man, you can not tell Jackie about last night" Kelso says sitting closer to the edge of his seat. "She will freak out."

"Jackie? I don't know man, I think she's really calmed down the last few years. She might not get so mad" Hyde says.

He sees Kelso's eyebrows rise in surprise. "You really think so?"

Hyde slowly nods his head yes, amused by how easily his friend is fooled. "I really do" Hyde replies.

"I don't know man, I don't think she would be too happy if she found out" Kelso tells him.

"Won't know until you try. And think about it, you'll probably feel good about yourself if you told her" Hyde suggests.

Kelso sits quietly for a moment and ponders this thought. Hyde stares at his friend, wondering what idiotic thoughts are running through his head right now. Watching Kelso's ever changing facial expressions pretty much say everything going through his mind.

"I don't know man. Just don't tell her" Kelso says again which creates a feeling of disappointment in Hyde.

He would have to try a different way to get Kelso to confess to Jackie.

Once again, the basement door opens and this time, Sam walks in. Hyde's stomach drops when he sees the look of anger that crosses her eyes once she looks his way. _Shit_ he thinks and braces himself for another argument.

"I've been looking for you" she says, her voice firm and stoic.

"You found me" he replies sarcastically.

She looks at Kelso. "Can you give us a minute?" she says and furrows her forehead when he doesn't seem to understand what she means. "Can I speak to Hyde in private?" she clarifies.

"Oh sure, I don't mind you guys going into your room" Kelso obliviously says.

Sam rolls her eyes and turns back to Hyde. Without needing to be told, he gets off his seat and follows her into their bedroom. Once there, she stands over by the bed, her arms crossed against her chest. Hyde decides it's best to stay close to the door and leans against the wall.

"So you're going to tell me what the hell last night was about?" she asks.

"I told you, it was nothing. We just got into an argument like we always do, it's not a big deal" Hyde replies nonchalantly.

"You were mad about her getting engaged to Kelso weren't you? That's what that was about" Sam states.

"Why the hell would I be mad about that?" he asks, his voice rising.

"You tell me."

"I don't care about their engagement if that's what you want to hear."

"I don't believe you" Sam says, uncrossing her arms and pointing a finger at him.

"Believe whatever you want" Hyde tells her.

"I think you're still in love with Jackie and you got mad when she accepted Kelso's proposal and _that's_ what started the argument" Sam says.

"I was never in love with Jackie so you're wrong" Hyde tells his wife.

Sam's eyes narrow and she glares at him. "Believe whatever you want. Just let me remind you that you're married now, so act like it" she says before walking towards him and pushing her way out of the door.

Hyde lets out a frustrated sigh and waits until he hears the door to the basement open and close before stepping out. Once he's back in the basement, he notices that it's empty. He groans at the missed opportunity to plant a seed in Kelso's head.

He retakes his seat and opens the magazine again, but he can't focus on the article anymore. Instead, he starts thinking of other things he can do to have Jackie find out that her fiance is still a cheating bastard.


	8. Author's Note

Hi all,

I've come to the conclusion that I won't be able to continue this story for the time being. Like I wrote in the last chapter, the plot is hitting too close to home and though I thought writing would be therapeutic, it's very hard to write this story right now. I hope to come back to it at some point. Sorry to disappoint anyone.

Liz


	9. Chapter 9

**Author's Note: Hi all! After a few weeks away I've finally managed to sit down and write a new chapter for this story. It's admittedly shorter than previous chapters and a bit of a filler but I still hope you enjoy reading. I want to thank those of you who sent me lovely messages during my time away and sending well wishes when I was going through a hard time. After a really bad breakup, I can say that I'm doing really great now and I'm excited to get back to writing and reading so many of the new stories I have missed during my time away!**

The next day, Hyde walks into the Forman's kitchen and sees Jackie and Mrs. Forman sitting by the table, an array of magazines spread out in front of them. They don't notice him at first and he rolls his eyes at their excited wedding talk.

"I really want an off the shoulder white dress, probably not a ballgown though, it would swallow me whole don't you think?" Jackie asks Mrs. Forman as she flips a few pages of the bridal magazine in front of her. She stops on a page and lifts it up for Mrs. Forman to see. "Something like this might be nice" she says.

Kitty nods her head and takes the magazine Jackie is showing her to examine the dress better. "Oh this is lovely dear" the older woman says before shimmying happily in her seat. "I can't believe two of my babies are getting married, this is so exciting" she squeals which earns her a big smile from Jackie.

Having heard enough of the sickening conversation, Hyde clears his throat loud enough to make his presence known.

"Oh Steven, we didn't notice you come in" says Mrs. Forman. Jackie turns to him and quickly turns back without uttering a word.

"I just walked in Mrs. Forman" he lied still looking at Jackie.

"Are you hungry sweetie? I haven't had time to make breakfast yet since Jackie and I have been so busy looking for wedding inspiration but I can whip you up something to eat if you want" she says.

Hyde shakes his head no. "Don't worry Mrs. Forman, I'll just grab some toast" he says and turns to look in the refrigerator for cold cuts.

"Okay Steven" says Mrs. Forman before turning her attention back to Jackie. "What about a veil? Were you thinking of a veil with the dress?"

"No way Mrs. Forman, it would be a disservice to cover my face. Besides, Michael says he loves me most when I'm not so made up so I was thinking I'd keep it just a little simple, let the dress speak for itself you know?" Jackie replies.

From his spot across the kitchen, Hyde grunts disapprovingly. As if Kelso actually gives a damn what Jackie wears, he'd probably be more concerned with how long before he can rip the dress off her. He looked over at Jackie who had turned to give him a menacing look. He smirks, knowing this will irritate her. She rolls her eyes and looks away from him.

"Isn't it a little too early to be planning the fairy tale anyway?" Hyde calls out, "you did just get engage after all."

Before Jackie can respond, Mrs. Forman chimes "not at all! You can never be too prepared. Besides, weddings are stressful so the earlier you get a head start of things the better."

"Eh, I guess you have to start early before he changes his mind" Hyde replies. Immediately, Jackie turns to look at him and narrows her eyes. He raises his eyebrows when they make eye contact and shrugs.

"Steven, you don't say things like that" Kitty says firmly.

"Hey, that's just my view on it" he explains.

"Oh yeah, I'm sure that explains your little Vegas marriage to the stripper then right? She locked you down when you were probably slumped on a bar like the pathetic loser you are" Jackie says angrily before standing up and walking out through the sliding doors.

Hyde shakes his head and can feel Mrs. Forman's eyes still on him. "Sensitive isn't she?" he says rhetorically.

"That wasn't very nice Steven. That poor girl is very excited to be planning her wedding, there's no reason for you to be so cruel."

"Come on Mrs. Forman, this whole thing is a joke. Jackie and Kelso?"

Kitty sits back on her chair and folds her hands across the table. A small smile spreads across her lips and she shakes her head slowly. "I didn't realize it bothered you that much" she says,

"It doesn't" Hyde replies defensively.

"Really? Could have fooled me" she responds.

"Why would it bother me? It's not like I care either way it's just stupid. The way she keeps going back and forth between us, it's just going to mess up the group man" he says trying to justify his previous statement.

"Everyone else seems to be on board with their engagement from what I have seen."

"Well they're idiots. This won't end well and it's only a matter of time before it blows up in everyone's face" Hyde says walking away from the refrigerator and shoving his hands in his pockets.

"Well, as long as it isn't bother you then" Kitty says shooting him a quick smirk before standing up from her chair. She walks over to where he is now standing and gives his cheek a light pat before walking out of the kitchen and into the living room.


	10. Chapter 10

Donna looks down at the floor trying to find a fixed spot to focus on in order to prevent getting dizzy from Jackie's back and forth pacing in her bedroom. For the past twenty or so minutes, Donna has been sitting quietly as Jackie rants and groans about Hyde and what a dillhole he was being to her.

"Why does he have to be such an asshole? It's no one's fault that he's miserable, why try to make the rest of us just as miserable too?" Jackie groans and just as Donna is about to respond, Jackie starts talking again. "I mean, he can just go back to hating me and pretending I'm not there, that wasn't as bad as having to deal with him again."

Donna shakes her head from side to side and rolls her eyes. How the hell could someone lack so much awareness was beyond her. "Jackie, Hyde doesn't hate you" she says from her spot on the edge of her bed.

"Oh no? Then what is his problem? I don't see him being this cruel to anyone else" Jackie says as she finally starts pacing and looks at Donna.

"Did you ever stop to think that there might be a reason Hyde is being such a jerk to you?" Donna asks.

"Like what?"

Donna lets out a loud exasperated breath and again shakes her head. "Come on Jackie, you're marrying his best friend."

"So?"

Donna's eyes widen as she looks at her friend and sees that she is really not understanding why this might be a problem for Hyde. "What do you mean so? That's probably why he's acting that way towards you" Donna explains.

"That makes no sense Donna. Steven and I are not together and he has his own stripper wife to worry about, why would he care that I'm marrying Michael?"

"You can not be this dense" Donna says and Jackie smirks. Of course she understands why this might be a big deal for Hyde, she isn't stupid, but she wants to hear someone else say it, if only to confirm what she already knows. Some sick, twisted part of her likes that Hyde is squirming about the whole situation. Hell, it serves him right for what he's put her through. Then there's the other part, the one that keeps pestering her and tells her she's just being spiteful and that's why she had agreed to marry Michael.

"Jackie, you and Hyde were together for a long time. In fact, it wasn't that long ago since you were together and now you're just moving on and getting married to his best friend" replies Donna.

"Again, Steven's _married_ so why the hell should he care?"

"God the two of you are meant for each other. This is ridiculous. Hyde is obviously still in love with you and from what I can see, you're still in love with him" Donna tells her friend.

"Donna you're crazy. I do _not_ love Steven, I love Michael."

"Look Jackie, you can say that all you want, but the fact that Hyde managed to get you this upset with a stupid comment says a lot."

"Yeah, that he's a dillhole that gets on my nerves. It doesn't mean anything else Donna, don't read so much into it" Jackie says and she starts pacing again.

"Sure it doesn't" Donna replies as she brings her hands up to rub her temples and try to deal with the frustration of the conversation.

"Okay so enough about Steven, I wanted to ask you something" Jackie says. She stops pacing once more and walks over to the chair by Donna's desk and takes a seat.

Donna brings her hands down to her lap and looks up at Jackie, bracing herself for whatever was about to be thrown her way. Given how tense things have been with the group since Kelso proposed, she is now always on edge when her friends asked her for favors. "Uh huh" she says apprehensively.

"You know I've been planning my wedding since I was a little girl and I have all the details pretty much all figured out but I didn't realize how much work actually went into the actual doing, you know? Mrs. Forman has been trying to help since my mother is who knows where but she's busy herself" Jackie starts and the pauses.

Donna raises an eyebrow, "uh. huh" she says again, slower this time.

"And I was thinking that technically, you are my oldest friend and I was wondering if you would want to be my maid of honor" Jackie asks, saying the last few words quickly.

Donna stays quiet for a moment, pondering what Jackie's just asked of her. Even though they have not been as close as they were in the past, Donna still considers Jackie her best friend. She had always been there for when she was going through tough time, albeit with snarky comments, but still there and always willing to help. It shouldn't have come as surprise that Jackie would ask her to be maid of honor and yet...

"Jackie, I'm really flattered that you would ask me but I don't think I can be your maid of honor" Donna says. She looks down at her hands and then back at Jackie who is wide-eyed and slowly nodding her head up and down.

"Oh, okay" Jackie says in disbelief. She had never considered being turned down by Donna. "Can I ask why not?"

"I would rather not say" Donna replies.

"Donna, you can tell me it's okay" Jackie says, curious as to what possible reason her friend has for not wanting to be her maid of honor.

"Jackie, I'm just going to be busy with school starting up soon and I don't think I'll have a lot of free time to dedicate to helping you with the plans."

"Okay, sure I get it" Jackie says and she stands up and pushes the chair back under the desk.

"Jackie, come on please don't be mad" Donna pleads feeling bad that not only she's not able to be her maid of honor but also that she was not honest about why she couldn't accept the role. However, how could she tell Jackie that she just couldn't be part of something she didn't agree with? She knows that Jackie marrying Kelso is a huge mistake, especially after seeing the way both she and Hyde are acting. She knows they both still love each other and she knows that Jackie accepting Kelso's proposal wasn't done for the right reasons.

"I have to go Donna" Jackie says and before Donna can respond, she walks out of the bedroom. Donna grunts and throws herself back on her bed hoping she made the right decision and that this will all pass.


	11. Chapter 11

**Author's Note: I want to start off by saying sorry for the long wait. I recently started a second job and my personal life has taken a very weird turn so I haven't had much time to sit and write/update unfortunately. I wish this chapter was longer and maybe not as much of a filler, but I still hope you enjoy it. I can't promise that an update will follow soon, so I'll just end with until next time!**

The next morning, Jackie wakes up later than usual and when she walks out of her room, finds that Fez is not in the apartment they share. She walks into the small kitchen in her silk robe and starts preparing coffee. It had became a nasty habit of hers to have a cup of coffee every morning and she kept telling herself she will quit so as to not stain her perfectly white teeth, but it has proven harder to do. As she puts the kettle on the stove and waits for the coffee to be ready, she walks over to the couch and slowly plops down on it. She can't believe how hectic the last few days have been and who could have even imagined that she would be engaged to Michael Kelso? After everything she went through with Steven, she was sure it would take her some time to be able to trust someone again and yet here she was, already thinking about wedding details and planning on being the future Mrs. Michael Kelso. It is still unfortunate that Donna can't seem to get on board and agree to be her maid of honor. Jackie sighs and her thoughts are distracted by the whistling of the coffeemaker.

Her morning is uneventful yet full of thoughts about the future that awaits her. Suddenly, there is a knock at the door and she walks over to it, tightening her robe a bit more. She smiles, thinking that it might be Michael coming to spend the morning with her. The smile, however, is short lived. Once she opens the door, she is met with the cold glare of a leggy blonde.

"Sam, what are you doing here?" Jackie asks. She feels her heartbeat increase a bit at the surprise visit. Sam is surely the last person she expected to be at her door.

"We need to talk" Sam simply says.

Jackie cocks her head slightly to the right and raises her brows in amusement. What could they possibly need to talk about? "Do we? About what exactly?" Jackie asks, not bothering to invite her in.

"About Hyde" Sam replies and it suddenly occurs to Jackie that Sam calls Steven by his last name. How peculiar it is that his own wife refers to him by his surname.

"What reason could we possibly have to speak about Steven?" Jackie asks, making sure to emphasize his first name so as to make it a point that she addresses him differently.

"I want to know what the two were arguing about the night Kelso proposed to you, and if you don't mind, I'd rather do this inside" Sam states.

Jackie winces a bit at the reminder of that argument and how much Hyde's words saddened her, though she would never admit that to anyone. Having him question whether or not she actually felt something towards Michael gave her a bit of hope that the engagement had bothered him and that he did still care about her, despite what the last few months between them were like. As mad as she was that night, it made her feel some satisfaction that he was not happy with her decision and that perhaps that may have been because he still cared about her. However, it also angered her because he was married and he had ruined any chance they had together.

"You should really ask him. I don't want to get involved in anyone's relationship and I have a busy day ahead so I really need to start getting ready" she lied, having nothing on her agenda for that day.

"Look Jackie, Hyde is my husband. I really want to make that clear. We don't have to like each other or be friends, but we are married so if there's something I should know, I would really appreciate it if you would tell me" Sam says and it catches Jackie by surprise. For months, she has thought of Sam as the homewrecker who ruined her opportunity at a happy ending, but now, as she stands there allowing herself to be a little bit vulnerable in front of her husband's ex, Jackie can see her in a different light. She doesn't have to like Sam, that part was true, but Sam didn't owe her anything either. She wasn't the one who had been in a relationship with her or ran off to Vegas instead of promising her a future. In fact, Sam wasn't the one responsible for hurting Jackie at all. That was all Steven's doing so, while Jackie wasn't required to be Sam's friend, she also couldn't blame her for the downfall of her relationship with Hyde.

"Sam... Steven and I are over, have been for a while and there is nothing you need to worry about. I am not the kind of girl who would intervene in someone else's relationship because I've been hurt before and I wouldn't wish that on anyone, not even you. I'm starting a new chapter in my life and am really happy" Jackie tells her.

Sam eyes Jackie for a few seconds and shakes her head from side to side. "I'm not sure who the two of you are trying to fool but I'm starting to get really tired of this little dance you've both have been doing. I just came to remind you that I'm his wife and just need you to stay away from him from now on okay?"

Jackie stares at Sam blankly and then watches as she walks away.

She had every intention of staying away from Steven. That wouldn't be a problem at all.


	12. Chapter 12

The next few days were uneventful in the basement. Jackie had Kelso running around town looking for the perfect wedding venue, checking out tuxedo shops and florists, scheduling cake tastings and every other possible wedding related planning imaginable. Despite not having a date set, she is determined to get a head start on the fairy tale wedding she has always envisioned. Fez would sometimes tag along, probably more excited than Jackie herself. While Jackie and Kelso were too busy to stop by the basement for longer than thirty minutes, Fez would fill the rest of the gang in on the ongoing planning.

"Oh you should see the flowers, all the beautiful flowers" he would exclaim cheerfully, his accent thickening as a result.

Hyde and Donna would endure this every day. Donna did not hide her annoyance. After turning Jackie down to be her maid of honor, Jackie has avoided speaking to Donna or even being in the same room as her. Despite Donna's attempt to try to mend fences, the younger girl wanted nothing more than to plan her wedding without the negative energy she says Donna brings.

Things between Sam and Hyde have not gotten much better and she is now watching him closely, probably trying to catch any slip up he might make pertaining to Jackie, Kelso or their wedding. Whenever these were brought up with her in the room, Sam would look directly at Hyde and see if he was affected at all by the conversation. He, of course, was able to mask his own annoyance thanks to years of zen. Through his lenses, he would see her eyes shift to him whenever the basement door opened. Perhaps she thought he would be hopeful that it was Jackie and then catch his disappointment when it wasn't. He had hoped that not having Jackie around would also ease their arguments, but had no such luck.

Every night, something would elicit a discussion that would lead her to ask something Jackie related. On one particular night, she had been ruffling through the drawers in the room when she found a tiny box he had stashed away and forgotten about. In the box was, to his misfortune, a ring he bought for Jackie when they had been together, right before she left for Chicago and everything had gone to hell.

"What is this?" she had asked.

His silence confirmed the answer she already knew and for the next forty or so minutes, he sat quietly as she berated him and spewed all kinds of curses his way.

When she finally went out for work, he grabbed the box from the spot on the floor where she had thrown it, opened it and stared at the ring inside. He'd purchase this almost a year ago in a post-drunken moment. He remembers being hopeful that night, nervous as hell but hopeful that his future with Jackie would be a good one. He had let himself envision a life in which they would one day sit at their home, staring down at a baby, their baby, who would have wild curls and deep brown eyes. A life in which he would come from work and hear tiny footsteps running to greet him at the door. Hell, he let himself envision a life where he stared at her as she slept in the bed they share, a calm rushing through him as he realized how great his life was because of her. As quickly as he had driven to Chicago to tell her all that his visions, they had been replaced by Kelso in a towel.

He closed the box and looked around the room for a better hiding spot. When Sam returned a few hours later, he thought it would be a good idea to give her space and sleep on the couch instead. That decision only led to another argument about how sleeping separately was the beginning of the end for a married couple. Reluctantly he dragged himself into the bedroom and laid on the cot next to her until she fell asleep. Then, he made his way back to the couch.

Seeing that ring after so long made him go through a string of memories of his relationship with Jackie. From watching her playing dress up in a wedding dress at the mall to quiet nights spent in the shabby room in the back of the basement, he begins to realize it wasn't as bad as he thought it was back then. He chuckles quietly when he remembers the first time he allowed her to enter his room, shortly after their summer affair began. She walked in cautiously and immediately complained about the poor lighting and how it was not flattering to her beauty. Then when he started leading her towards the cot to start fooling around, she went on a very Jackie-like tirade about cleanliness and dust which he stopped by pressing his lips against hers. As annoying as Jackie had been in the beginning of their relationship, he has to admit that she grew up and grew on him. Whenever something happened with him, she was the first one he wanted to tell. She really became his best friend and now, as she's getting ready to marry one of his best friends and he's having problems with his own wife, he's realizing why the engagement truly bothers him.

It isn't about her not loving Kelso or Kelso being a cheater. It isn't about him being unhappy with Sam. His real problem with the engagement is that it would mean he no longer had a chance of being with her. Despite him being married, everyone knew his marriage with Sam was temporary. They would eventually reach their expiration date and both would move on with their lives as they had before meeting each other. Sam surely knew it as well and seeing him invested in his ex's engagement probably threatened her and made their own demise appear closer than ever. However, if Jackie married Kelso, he would have no choice but to accept that they would never be together again and he would have to forget all about the life he had imagined with her.

He wasn't ready to do that. Not yet.


	13. Chapter 13

**Author's Note:** Hi again everyone! Here's the latest chapter which I'm hoping everyone will enjoy. I'm desperately trying to wrap up this story within the next month and a half and they'll probably be 5 more chapters so look out for those coming to you soon (hopefully!)

The next day, after realizing that he still had feelings for Jackie, Hyde knew he had to do something about it before it was too late. There were many things he needed to fix and he had a short window of time to do them in so he needed help from the one person who _could_ help him: Donna. He managed to wake up early, before Sam woke up in order to avoid yet another argument. He makes his way out of the basement and across the yard towards the Pinciotti's house. It doesn't take long for Donna to come to the door.

"Hyde, what the hell? Do you know what time it is?" she asks groggily still dressed in her pajamas.

"I need your help" he says simply which earns him a curious look from her and she opens the door wider, motioning him to come in.

"This better be good" she says.

The two friends make their way to the Pinciotti's kitchen where Donna immediately gets started on a pot of coffee. "Want anything to eat?" she asks.

Knowing the reputation that follows Donna's cooking, Hyde quickly shakes his head from side to side. "Just coffee for me" he states and she nods her head. Donna puts the coffee pot on the stove and walks over to the table where Hyde is sitting. "Okay Hyde, spill" she says.

"I need your help...with Jackie" he tells her.

"With Jackie? You're going to have to elaborate a bit more."

"Listen, you're going to think I'm crazy but I, uh, I want Jackie back" Hyde says looking away from Donna as soon as he says that.

She lets out a loud laugh that he wasn't expecting and he looks back up, annoyed at her reaction. "If you're going to make fun, then I'll just leave" he says, but it doesn't subside the laughter. He rolls his eyes and pushes his chair back and stands.

Donna's laughter becomes a quiet giggle and she waves her arms, motioning him to sit back down. Once she has managed to stop giggling, she shakes her head and smiles. "Oh come on, you can't tell me that's not funny" she tells him.

"I don't think it's that funny" Hyde says growing more annoyed with her. He does, however, sit back down hoping that she will eventually agree to help him out.

"Hyde, and I ask this just to be amused, but how do you think this is even a good idea? Jackie's engaged, you're married and well, you two didn't exactly end on a good note" she explains in case he needs a refresher on his history with his ex.

"I know all of that, but I just need to try okay? Don't ask so many questions and just help me."

"Even if I wanted to help you, which honestly I don't because that's just a lot of drama waiting to happen, I wouldn't be the best person to come to. Jackie's not exactly my biggest fan right now" Donna informs him.

"Why's that?"

"I wouldn't agree to be her maid of honor."

"Huh. Why not?"

Donna rolls her eyes. "Come on Hyde, you know how stupid this whole engagement is. As much as I love Jackie, I'm not going to stand there and pretend I completely support her decision to marry Kelso."

Hyde is silent for a moment, thinking. Besides Jackie, Kelso and Fez, no one else seemed to think this engagement is a very good idea. "Donna...Kelso cheated on Jackie" Hyde blurts out.

"What!? When?" Donna asks.

"The night he proposed" he says.

Donna's eyes narrow. "You're not just saying that so I'll help you are you?"

"No, I wouldn't make something like that up" he says firmly. Donna eyes Hyde seriously for a moment trying to read his eyes and see if he was telling the truth.

"Oh crap, we have to tell her" Donna says deciding that Hyde was telling the truth. Hyde shakes his head.

"She wouldn't believe me" he states.

"Then I'll tell her" Donna says.

"She wouldn't believe you either. She'll just say I'm making it up because I hate her."

"She has to believe us. Damn it I can't believe he'd do that right after proposing to her."

"You can't believe that Kelso would cheat on someone? Really?"

"Not _right_ after proposing! I really thought he had grown up a little. Damn it Hyde, why'd you have to tell me? Now I have to get involved" Donna lectures.

"Because I still love her, and I think she deserves to know" Hyde says and looks away.

"Whoa whoa hold on. Did you say you _love_ her? Is this what happens when you don't get enough sleep?" Donna asks teasingly. In the years during and after his relationship with Jackie, no one had heard him say he liked her let alone love her. Jackie had tried to convince them several times that Hyde was actually capable of saying the words "love" to another human being but they had known him long enough to know that was probably a figment of her imagination. Sure enough, here he was declaring his love for her friend.

"Shut it Pinciotti" he threatens.

"Well you sure do have bad timing don't you?"

"You're telling me."

"We have to do something Hyde, we can't just let her keep planning a wedding to Kelso if he cheated on her."

"I told you, she won't listen to me" Hyde reminds Donna.

"I guess I'll talk to her. But Hyde, what about Sam? You're still married you know."

"Yeah, I'm working on that" Hyde replies as he stands up. "I'm working on that right now actually."

Donna watches as he makes his way out of the door and back to the Forman's house. Why the hell did her friends have to be so complicated and why the hell couldn't Eric be here to deal with their drama instead of her? She suddenly realizes the coffee pot has been whistling and rapidly gets off her chair to find the coffee spilled all over the oven top.


	14. Chapter 14

**Author's Note:** New chapter. Shorter chapter than usual, but we're making some headway here. Let's say 4 more chapters left... Enjoy!

Hyde walks into the Forman's basement immediately after leaving Donna's, determined to fix one of the many messes he's managed to make of his life. He walks straight into the small bedroom and sees his wife still in bed. Her blonde hair is fanned out across her pillows ad he can only see the top of her head due to the blanket covering her body. Even in the dim lighting, he can make out her form, rising and falling with each breath she takes. He starts to think of the moment she walked through the door a few months ago and wonders what made him think it was a good idea to let her stay. Just two weeks prior to her arrival, he was in a drunken stupor in a warehouse telling his friends that he was going to marry Jackie. He went so far as to purchase a ring and chase her to Chicago. He couldn't even remember how or where he met Sam or he even really liked her. Though if he had to ask, the answer was probably no.

"Sam" he calls loud enough to make her stir a bit. When she doesn't wake up, he walks over to the cot, sits on the edge and shakes her gently. She stirs again and grunts softly. "Sam, wake up" he says.

Her eyes flutter open, adjusting to the darkness of the room. "What's going on?" she mumbles, her voice soft but coarse at the same time.

"We need to talk" he tells her.

She sits up and straightens her body, stretching her arms above her head and yawning. "That's never a good sign" she says and he smirks. If anyone knows what those four words signify, it's him. If only because he's heard them dozens of times from the numerous girls who wanted him but "weren't looking for anything serious." In other words, girls who would be too ashamed to be seen out in public with him but had no qualms getting into his bed.

"I guess it isn't" he responds.

"Is this about Jackie?" she asks looking directly into his eyes. Even without light, he can make out the blueness in her eyes and he can imagine the hint of hurt that hides within them, which is why he's glad he can't actually see them. Despite his feelings of their marriage, Sam was a nice girl who got caught up in a mess far bigger than she.

"I don't want to lie and say that's it's not" he responds and he can see the lines on her face turn into a scowl, the softness in her face gone.

"Damn it Hyde, why keep me here then?"

"Because we got married Sam. We got married and it was the right thing to do."

"Right thing for who exactly? You've been lying to me this entire time. Pretending to be this good guy who actually likes me but the whole time you've just been pining after your ex-girlfriend who is _engaged_ in case you forgot."

"Sam, I haven't been pretending to be anything. I never said I was anything other than what I am and I never promised anything I couldn't offer you. You couldn't possibly expect that this would be some fairy tale after getting married the way we did, could you?"

"Oh don't be such a patronizing asshole Hyde. I'm not Jackie okay? I didn't make you out to be some knight in shining armor who would rescue the poor stripper from Vegas. I wasn't expecting a white picket fence or a dog or anything of the sort. I did, however, expect you to be a decent fucking person and be honest with me."

"And that's exactly what I'm doing now. I'm not going to keep dragging you along in this marriage until we're both miserable and hate each other because we want something else. Unfortunately, this is about Jackie."

"She's _engaged!_ " Sam says loudly.

"I know that" he says firmly.

"So what do you think is going to happen here? You get rid of me and you think she's going to jump back into your arms, after everything you've done? I thought you were smarter than that Hyde."

"Look, I'm not here to talk about Jackie."

"Then what's the point of this conversation? What does it matter anyway if you're still not going to get what you want?"

"Sam, the point of this was to be honest about where I stand with us. Jackie is just a small part of it, but I can't keep lying to myself or you and keep this marriage going."

"Oh how noble of you. So you want a divorce?"

"Yes" he confirms.

Sam pulls the blanket away from her body and throws her legs over the side of the cot and stands up. Her bare feet relish in the cold of the concrete floor. "Well you don't have to worry, consider yourself divorced" she says turning her back to him and walking over to the dresser to grab her toothbrush.

"What does that mean?" he asks.

"We were never officially married so you're free. Free to do whatever the hell you want" she says as she turns on her heels and walks out of the room, leaving a very speechless, angry but relieved Hyde behind her.


	15. Chapter 15

Kitty stands over the stove, preparing lunch for her husband who, like clockwork, closes the muffler shop at 2:30 in the afternoon to eat with her. Since Eric ran off to Africa, it is the one ritual she looks forward to everyday. She begins humming and swaying happily when Sam walks through the swinging door with a suitcase in tow. The leggy blonde huffs and puffs and walks directly to the table. She throws her suitcase on the floor and walks back towards the living room. Kitty silently observes the bags and says a small prayer. _Only took him a few months_ she thinks to herself and continues stirring the pots on the stove.

A few minutes later, Sam comes back inside with more luggage. "Are all men so stupid?" she asks.

Kitty does not answer the girl, just looks up and shakes her head.

"Well, I guess everyone is getting what they wanted around here. The stripper is finally leaving" Sam says sarcastically.

Again, Kitty does not say anything.

"Just so you know, I'm not the bad guy here. I gave Hyde the option of being with me or not and he chose to let me stay. Now he's changed his mind because he wants to win Jackie back. If you ask me, he's the one with issues, not me" Sam says and immediately picks up her bags and walks out the sliding doors.

"Well luckily no one asked you" Kitty mutters after the girl and resumes her cooking, happier than ever.

Later that day, Donna walks back to Hyde's room in the basement. She hears country music coming from Hyde's record player and can tell she's in for an uncomfortable conversation. Mrs. Forman had informed her of Sam's departure earlier in the day and Donna needs to make sure her friend isn't planning something stupid involving a small brunette friend of hers.

"Hyde" she says entering the room. Surprisingly, she finds him cleaning the room up. "Uh…what's going on?" she asks.

"Hey man" he responds.

"Hyde…how are you doing?"

"I guess you heard about Sam" he says without stopping his cleaning.

"Mrs. Forman told me. What the hell is going on man?"

"Look Donna, I just couldn't keep up the bullshit man."

"Damn it Hyde. Don't go and do anything stupid. You are Jackie are done, you need to just let that go."

"I can't do that" he says, finally dropping a pile of clothes in his hands and turning to face Donna.

"What is your plan here? You think Jackie is just going to forget everything that happened because you finally decided to get rid of your wife? You can't be that stupid, that's Kelso's job…you know, Jackie's _fiancé."_

"Are you forgetting that he cheated on her right after proposing? She deserves better than that."

"I'm assuming by better you mean she deserves you" Donna says.

Hyde doesn't respond. He just stares at her and starts cleaning up again.

"Hyde, I really hope you have a plan here because as mad as Jackie is with me, I don't' want to see her getting hurt again."

"I won't hurt her again Donna" Hyde says.

"Are you planning on telling her about Kelso?" Donna asks.

"Of course I'm planning on telling her about Kelso."

"Then you're going to hurt her again. Just think about what you're going to do Hyde. Think about her for once"

"She needs to know Donna."

Just then, they hear noise coming from the basement. They immediately recognize Fez's voice. They hear as Fez excitedly starts discussing plans for a wedding and Hyde immediately concludes that both Jackie and Kelso are in the room as well.

"Hyde, don't do something you'll regret" Donna immediately says when she hears Jackie's voice.

"This is the one thing I know I won't regret" he says before leaving his room. Donna immediately follows knowing that there is no way this will end well.

Hyde walks into the basement just in time to hear Fez talking about wedding cake options. "Chocolate. Can never go wrong with chocolate cake" he says and Kelso excitedly nods his head.

"Michael, chocolate cake is not classy" Jackie says, a bit horrified that her fiancé and his best friend seem to have taken planning in their hands even though she has been planning her fairytale wedding since she could remember.

"Maybe we can have a dog shaped chocolate cake! You know how much I love dogs and Fez here loves chocolate so it's a win win win" Kelso says ignoring Jackie's comment.

"A dog shaped cake? That's genius!" Fez exclaims.

"That'll be fancy alright" Hyde chimes in from the back of the room.

Jackie looks up, startled and rolls her eyes at her ex-boyfriend. Mrs. Forman had warned then on their way in that Sam had left and she knew that he would be nothing but a dick now that his whory wife left him. Though she was jumping for joy inside, she was in no mood to deal with his attitude. She had to put an end to the catastrophe that was this planning session between Kelso and Fez.

"Right?" Kelso says not catching his friend's sarcasm.

"But why stop at just a dog shaped cake? Just have a bunch of dogs running around. You should give out dogs as wedding souvenirs" Hyde continues.

Hyde and Fez let out a collective gasp. "Can we do that?" Kelso asks and turns to Jackie.

"No" Jackie says firmly and looks directly at Hyde. "Stop" she mouths and he simply shrugs his shoulders and smirks.

"Of course you can, your wedding will surely be the classiest wedding in all Point Place if you do."

Jackie tries to ignore her ex-boyfriend but the quieter she remains the worst he gets. She does not want to give him the satisfaction of getting under her skin but if there is one thing Steven Hyde is good at, it's pissing her off. Throughout their time together, he knew exactly how to push her to her limit and maker her explode.

"Of course, you can always just be really classy and add a few strippers too. Or actually, don't do that. You know Jackie has a thing against strippers ever since she got dumped for one, but I guess if she really thinks you love her there's nothing to worry about" he says without hesitating.

"Hyde" Donna jumps in finally. This is exactly what she was afraid of.

Jackie walks across the room to where he was standing and gets mere inches from his face.


	16. Chapter 16

The former couple faces off in the basement in front of their group of friends and a very confused Kelso. The tension in the room is stifling and eyes pong back and forth between Jackie and Hyde, no one sure who will be the first to break. After weeks of Hyde trying to prove that the engagement was a mistake, Jackie had finally reached her breaking point.

"Why do you insist of ruining everything? I don't care if you're miserable or that your wife left. For once, just stay out of my way and stop trying to get in the way and just accept that I love Michael."

Hyde rolls his eyes. "Oh for fuck's sake, you do not love Kelso Jackie."

"Oh how would you even know? You don't know what love is" she says bitterly.

"Because I know you and I know that you're doing this because you feel trapped, like you have no other choice but to marry Kelso."

"You're such an idiot. You don't know anything and you certainly don't know me if that's what you think."

"Tell me I'm wrong then" Hyde exclaims, a knowing smirk growing across his face.

"You're wrong" Jackie answers defiantly.

"No, I'm not. You know I'm not, hell, everyone here knows I'm right. You said yes to Kelso because you're afraid that there's nothing left for you to do. You're afraid that you'll end up alone and it's better to end up with Kelso than with no one at all. Isn't that right?"

"Again, you're wrong" Jackie sais crossing her arms across her chest and glaring at Hyde. The nerve of him to assume that's why she accepted Kelso's proposal. She loves Michael, has always loved Michael. Sure the past few years had shown her a different side to herself that did not include him, perhaps had outgrown him. However, Michael had grown too. He was a doting father, a much better friend and he had a job. They could continue growing together and making each other better. She had always said that he was her soul mate after all.

"Hyde, what the hell man" exclaims Kelso. "You're supposed to be my friend, what are you doing?"

"Kelso, come on man. You're about to make a huge mistake. I'm just trying to save you before it goes too far" says Hyde.

"Hyde," Donna chimes in, unable to stand by any further without saying anything, "I think you're going too far."

"Come on Donna, you're telling me I'm the only person in this room that thinks this whole thing is a joke? You're her friend, tell her what you really think about all this" Hyde replies.

Donna stays silent and looks down at her feet. She senses Jackie's eyes on her but tries to avoid them. She's already hurt her by not agreeing to be her maid of honor. There is no need to add insult to injury by co-signing with Hyde.

"Donna" Jackie says demanding the older girl's attention. "Do you think I'm making a mistake."

"Jackie…" Donna says trailing off, finding it difficult to make eye contact with her friend.

"Yes or no" Jackie says firmly.

"It's not that simple" Donna states.

"Yes. Or. No" Jackie asks again.

Donna simply nods her head yes and looks away again.

"What the hell man" shrieks Kelso feeling betrayed by yet another friend. "What is everyone's problem? Why is everyone against me and Jackie getting married?"

"I think it's a good idea" Fez exclaims, earning him looks from Donna and Hyde. "What?" Fez says, "I love weddings."

"Kelso man, why don't you tell Jackie what you were doing the other day outside Fatso Burger?" Hyde says, already having had enough of this secret he's been carrying around in order to protect Kelso. He no longer cares if he goes crashing and burning along with his friend, Jackie needed to know the truth. After everything he's put her through, he owes her that much.

"Hyde" Kelso hisses.

Jackie turns to look at her fiancé. "What's he talking about Michael?" she asks.

"Nothing sweetcakes, he's just trying to ruin everything like you said" Kelso replies with a small smile, his eyes never leaving Hyde however.

"If you don't tell her, I will" Hyde says.

"Michael" Jackie demands. "Tell me."

"It's nothing Jackie, I swear" Kelso looks at her, hoping she will fall for his big, brown eyes like she used to before.

"Sure, a big blonde nothing" Hyde says.

"Jesus Hyde" Donna exclaims shaking her head. This has definitely gone too far and she regrets coming down to the basement.

"What's he talking about Michael?" Jackie says, her voice cracking and her face showing slow signs of realization as Hyde's words sink in. A blonde. Just after he proposes, he cheats on her yet again.

"Look Jackie, it was just one time and it was a mistake. I just fell and-"

"Just stop!" she yells. Everyone stands still and silent as she eyes everyone in the room. She looks from Kelso to Hyde and finally at Donna.

"You knew" she says looking Donna in the eyes.

"Jackie…I-Hyde" Donna starts but is cut off.

"You knew and didn't tell me. You've known this whole time what he did and instead of being my friend, you kept quiet."

"How the hell was I supposed to tell you something like that?" Donna says defensively.

"By telling me! You're my so called best friend and you almost let me marry someone who you _knew_ was cheating on me."

"It was one time" Kelso says again.

"Yeah one _more_ time" says Hyde.

Jackie turns to them both and glares at them, a look of complete disdain evident in her face. "I'm done. I'm done with all of you" she says and turns quickly to leave.

"Jackie" Kelso calls out but is met by the slam of the door. "Hyde what the fuck man. Why the hell would you do that?" Kelso says desperately.

"You don't deserve her man. Neither of us do" Hyde simply states and walks towards the staircase to go upstairs.

"You just ruined our friendship, you know that don't you?" Kelso says angrily.

Hyde turns to look at Kelso and nods his head. "Fine by me."

Kelso, Donna and Fez stand quietly, not knowing how to process what has just occurred.

After a few silent minutes, Fez speaks. "So does this mean there is no wedding?"


	17. Chapter 17

A few days pass by in which Hyde does not see anyone in the basement except for Fez. Since the blow up with Jackie a few days prior, he has not even spoken to his friends. Even Fez avoids any interaction with him due to him being a "wedding ruiner" who took away all hopes of a dog shaped chocolate cake. Even when Hyde asked Fez if he had really been on board with the wedding, he simply received a "good day" and was thereafter ignored. Usually, this would be fine with him, but it started to chip away at the small sense of conscious he had.

"How's Jackie?" Hyde asks Fez as he walks into the basement that evening.

"Not engaged" is all Fez says. Not for a second does he look up at Hyde.

"Is she doing alright other than that?" Hyde asks.

Fez shrugs and points to the television, his indication that he wants to be left alone.

Hyde shakes his head and walks back out of the basement. How bad could it be if he simply popped up at her apartment? Fez was in the basement so it would be just the two of them that is if she even let him into the apartment, which he doubted.

He hopped back up into the El Camino and drove the few blocks to her apartment. He had nothing left to lose now and if he had managed to risk it all, why not just go for it?

It took him less than 15 minutes to arrive to her building complex and, once outside, he realized it wouldn't be so easy to confront her. Not only had he destroyed her during their own relationship (and the months right after their break up) but he had also managed to ruin her dream wedding to someone she had always deemed her soulmate. The thought of her believing that Kelso was her soulmate made his stomach churn, though he knew he had no leverage since he played a big part in their demise.

He turned the engine off and sat in the car for a few more minutes, working up the nerve to go out and knock on her door. Leave it to fearless Steven Hyde to be afraid of confronting a loud mouth former cheerleader who he could easily lift with one arm. He takes a deep breath and opens up the door. He looks up the building and exhales, bracing himself for what's to come.

As he goes up the flight of stairs, he thinks of every possible scenario that awaits him, even the improbably one in which she jumps into his arms and is happy that he saved her from a loveless marriage and agrees to give him another chance. He knows it's stupid but he can still hope.

He finally makes it to her floor and walks towards her door. _Shit_ he thinks to himself thinking he might be making a mistake but knocking immediately before he really loses his nerve.

It does not take long for her to open the door. He stares at her, standing there with damp, just-washed hair, no make up and a silky purple robe. This is exactly what he imagined life with her would be like if they had gotten married. He would come home from work to find her waiting for him just like this. _Damn_ he thinks. However, the deep scowl on her face ruins the fantasy a bit.

"What the hell do you want?" she immediate says.

Fantasy officially ruined.

"Hey" he says and immediately feels dumb.

Jackie does not respond but continues to glare at him. He notices that she keeps the door slightly ajar and that he has no chance in hell of being invited inside.

"I know you don't want to see me right now" he continues.

"Try never" she interrupts.

"Okay, that's fair. I know you're mad, and you have every right to be but I wanted to see if there was any way we could talk."

"Talk!? You want to talk? You're insane. You and I have absolutely nothing to talk about."

"Listen, I'm sorry I exposed your fiancé for what he is, but would you have rather be left not knowing what was going on and gone on to marry him?" Hyde says. He figures the only way to make things slightly alright is to show her that he has her back in this situation.

"Oh give me a fucking break, like you did this for me. You did this for your own twisted satisfaction. You just can't let me be happy and you find some sick humor in making my life a living hell."

"Jackie that's not true" he replies.

"Isn't it? Tell me you were happy when Michael proposed" she says and raises her eyebrow.

"No I wasn't, but that doesn't mean I went out of my way to ruin your life. I simply informed you of what was going on because I figured you had a right to know."

"Oh so you were just looking out for me. What a hero you are."

"You would have rather not known then? That's what you wanted, for Kelso to cheat behind your back and no one tell you what was going on?"

"How long did you know before you told me?"

Hyde didn't respond.

"A few hours? A few days? How long did you know?" she repeats her question.

"Jackie, that's not important" he says.

"It isn't? So you were looking out for me but it took you a few days to tell me what was going on. Why's that? You were planning something weren't you? You had ulterior motives and it didn't fit your narrative to tell me right away. You probably wanted Michael to suffer a little bit. You wanted to have a little fun at my expense and once your wife left you, you figured I'd run back to you like a desperate, heartbroken little puppy, didn't you?"

"That's not true" he says getting angry at her accusations.

"Then what was it? What was the plan here?"

"I thought he would tell you himself" Hyde tells her.

"You thought Michael would tell me he cheated on me after he proposed? Did marriage make you stupider?"

"Jackie, he was my friend. Did I want to tell you? Of course, but I couldn't just dog him out like that."

"No? Then what changed because that is exactly what you did wasn't it?"

"I just wanted you to know. I thought he would tell you because I knew but the more time passed the more I realized he wouldn't confess."

"Of course he wouldn't confess. So you were all in on the joke and I got blindsided. That seems to happen a lot in this group."

"I really am sorry. I never meant for you to get hurt" Hyde says.

"Oh bullshit. It's the same damn story every time with you. It gets so fucking old and exhausting dealing with the same shit. It's been four years dealing with you crap and I'm still dealing with it even though we're not even together. Just leave me alone will you?"

"Jackie, I swear I never meant to fucking hurt you. You think I had some big plan to fuck you over? You think I wanted to find Kelso messing around with some chick? No man. I was minding my own god damn business. No I wasn't happy that you were engaged and I was angry because I fucked up our relationship, but I would _never_ do some shit like that."

"You so good at lying I almost believed you" she says.

"Fuck Jackie, what do I have to do for you to believe me man? This is not what I wanted."

"What can you do? You can leave me alone, that's what you can do. Good bye Steven" she says before closing the door.

"Jackie…Jackie!" Hyde calls out knocking on her door. He has to make her believe him. Sure he hated her planning a future with Kelso but this is not the way he wanted things to turn out like.

"Jackie" he continues calling out to no avail.


	18. Chapter 18

_Author's Note: After very close to two years working on this story (and long hiatuses along the way), I have decided to conclude it with this epilogue chapter. It admittedly is not the original plan for how I saw this story going (as is often the case, and frankly after so much time I don't remember where I initially saw this one going) but I think it may be as fitting an ending as I will be able to write without delaying this story any longer. Enjoy!_

 **One year later:**

Hyde sits behind the counter in Grooves, watching Leo interact with waves of uncomfortable customers who are unsure how to interact with the bearded hippy. Hyde smirks at the awkward smiles the young teens offer Leo as he goes on short-memory rants about his ownership of a little house with a lot of cameras and that one time he was on the bus and saw Jesus, though it wasn't really Jesus, just a guy named Jesus who worked at the mall. From his spot, Hyde could see their shifty eyes as they tried to come up with a way to escape or put someone else in the line of fire. More often than not this was unsuccessful as Leo would simply restate a conversation, not realizing that they had already talked about whatever it was he had brought up.

Around this time, Hyde would usually head outside and grab some food, but the cold winter day made him hesitate. Was he hungry enough to brave the chill? After a few minutes, the grumbling in his stomach provided him with the answer and he went back to the office, grabbed his jacket and told Leo he would return shortly.

Once outside he quickly regretted his decision but the pang in his stomach encouraged him to continue. He walked the few steps to his car and got in. The cold leather seats made him shiver and he immediately decided to head over to the Forman's for a quick lunch instead of having to deal with the long lines at Fatso Burger or the Hub. The drive was short, as pretty much any walk in Point Place is.

During the past year, his life has been less exciting, which he has learned to appreciate after the chaos of the previous year. Of his group of friends, only Donna and Fez still talk to him and Eric whenever he calls. He had hoped that after Eric returned last year, he would decide to stay and fix things with Donna, but the visit was just that. His best friend had decided that Africa was where he was supposed to be for now and made his way back across the globe. He had no idea what Kelso was up to, not that he asked and he would see Jackie in passing but she would never look at him much less speak to him.

When he arrives at the Formans, he is not surprised to see his pseudo-parents sitting around the table enjoying their lunch.

"Steven, what are you doing here?" Red asks when Hyde walks through the sliding doors.

"Got hungry, decided to see if there was anything here" Hyde says with a shrug.

"Oh of course there is sweetie, sit I'll make you a plate" Kitty said instantly getting out of her seat and rushing to feed him.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt" Hyde said walking over to grab a spot by the table.

"Don't worry about it" Red said, taking a bite of his sandwich.

"How is work sweetie?" Kitty asked from across the room.

"It's a little slow today, I left Leo in change."

"Leo!? You left Leo in charge? Boy, you kids nowadays sure don't appreciate what you have. That dirty hippy will probably burn down the joint before you get there" Red tells Hyde who just shrugs his shoulders.

Kitty walks back and places a sandwich in front of Hyde with a glass of orange juice. Hyde utters a thank you and she pats him softly on the top of his head.

The lunch goes by quickly, a little too quickly for Hyde's taste. He enjoys spending time with the Formans and hearing their banter which never last more than 30 seconds. He thinks back on his own, short-lived marriage and how it was everything he had imagined his marriage would be like and not enough in the slightest. His time with Sam had proven to be his teenage dream come true. She had been the kind of wife he had always envisioned, blonde, leggy and easy. She did not bother him or demand anything from him. Every afternoon when he got back from work she would wait with a beer and lingerie, ready to make him forget anything and everything. He should have been content, but it just wasn't enough. He tried at first to snap out of it and told himself he was living every man's fantasy, but he soon realized his fantasy had changed all thanks to a tiny, loud mouthed girl who asked too much of him and expected the world. He hadn't realized how much he actually wanted to provide her with just that until it was too late.

Whenever he has too much time on his hards, he manages to think about Jackie and their time together. Silly memories that he hadn't valued then seem to pop to mind. Memories such as the first day she slept over after she was left alone, the first Thanksgiving they spent together as a couple and how she told him how grateful she was to be with him, the Valentine's Day cards she would make for him with embarrassing messages he would never live down if their friends ever saw. His favorite memory, however, was when he went over to her house after her parents left to check up on her. She had asked him to stay until she fell asleep and they both laid in her pink, overly-pillowed bed, telling each other things no one else knew. She told him about how she became afraid of clowns and what her home life had really been like growing up and he told her about his childhood and the abuse he endured during his parent's drunken stupors. That simple moment, the first time he ever opened up to someone in that degree, is what he missed. It had also been the moment he knew she would change his life, which she did.

Now, whenever he sees her out an about, he has to come to terms with her new relationship. Having to watch her walking around town with her new boyfriend was almost as bad as watching her accept Kelso's proposal. At least with Kelso, he knew they would not last. He knew that even if they managed to make it down the aisle, it would be short-lived. This new guy, however, who no one knew, he was a toss-up. All Hyde knew about him was his name and that he owned a construction company out in Kenosha. Hyde would overhear Donna and Fez talking about Jackie' plans to move out to Kenosha to be with him and that damn near devastated Hyde. Those plans alone meant that the relationship was pretty serious and could actually mean he would lose her forever, not that he had any hope anymore that she would forgive him after last year. In a very sick twist of fate, he was now going through what she must have experienced when Sam walked through the door. He must say, he didn't like it.

Watching the one girl he ever truly cared about move on with someone else makes him realize just how much he messed up, and how much of their demise he contributed to. Also, it makes him realize that he had what he wanted all along and his stupid pride got in the way and cost him everything. Now, as she is rebuilding her own life, he needs to find a way to be alright with him not being a part of her life but still hold on to the hope that one day, he might be. As he starts his drive back to Grooves, he shakes tugs at the sleeves of his jacket and slides his sunglasses up the bridge of his nose and wonders how much damage Leo can do in half an hour.


End file.
